DAILY READING and REFLECTIONS For Tuesday, July 22, 2014 16th Week in Ordinary Time - Psalter 4 (White) Memorial of Saint Mary Magdalene Readings: Songs 3:1-4; Ps 63:2-9; John 20:1-18 Response: My soul is thristing for you, O Lord mg God. Rosary: Sorrowful Mysteries Key Verse: I have seen the Lord. SAINT OF THE DAY: Saint Mary Magdalene She is called the Penitent. St. Mary was given the name Magdalen because, though a Jewish girl, she lived in a Gentile town called Magdale, in northern Galilee, and her culture and manners were those of a Gentile. St. Luke records that she was a notorious sinner, and had seven devils removed from her. She was present at Our Lords Crucifixion, and with Joanna and Mary, the mother of James and Salome, at Jesus empty tomb. Fourteen years after Our Lords death, St. Mary was put in a boat by the Jews without sails or oars - along with Sts. Lazarus and Martha, St. Maximin (who baptized her), St. Sidonius (the man born blind), her maid Sera, and the body of St. Anne, the mother of the Blessed Virgin. They were sent drifting out to sea and landed on the shores of Southern France, where St. Mary spent the rest of her life as a contemplative in a cave known as Sainte-Baume. She was given the Holy Eucharist daily by angels as her only food, and died when she was 72. St. Mary was transported miraculously, just before she died, to the chapel of St. Maximin, where she received the last sacraments. Mary Magdalen was well known as a sinner when she first saw Our Lord. She was very beautiful and very proud, but after she met Jesus, she felt great sorrow for her evil life. When Jesus went to supper at the home of a rich man named Simon, Mary came to weep at His feet. Then with her long beautiful hair, she wiped His feet dry and anointed them with expensive perfume. Some people were surprised that Jesus let such a sinner touch Him, but Our Lord could see into Marys heart, and He said: Many sins are forgiven her, because she has loved very much. Then to Mary He said kindly, Your faith has made you safe; go in peace. From then on, with the other holy women, Mary humbly served Jesus and His Apostles. When Our Lord was crucified, she was there at the foot of His cross, unafraid for herself, and thinking only of His sufferings. No wonder Jesus said of her: She has loved much. After Jesus body had been placed in the tomb, Mary went to anoint it with spices early Easter Sunday morning. Not finding the Sacred Body, she began to weep, and seeing someone whom she thought was the gardener, she asked him if he knew where the Body of her beloved Master had been taken. But then the person spoke in a voice she knew so well: Mary! It was Jesus, risen from the dead! He had chosen to show Himself first to Mary Magdalen, the repentent sinner. TODAYS READING FROM THE NEW AMERICAN BIBLE: READING 1: Song of Songs 3:1-4 1 On my bed at night I sought the man who is my sweetheart: I sought but could not find him! 2 So I shall get up and go through the city; in the streets and in the squares, I shall seek my sweetheart. I sought but could not find him! 3 I came upon the watchmen -- those who go on their rounds in the city: Have you seen my sweetheart? 4 Barely had I passed them when I found my sweetheart. I caught him, would not let him go, not till I had brought him to my mothers house, to the room where she conceived me! RESPONSORIAL PSALMS, Psalms 63:2, 3-4, 5-6, 8-9 2 Thus I have gazed on you in the sanctuary, seeing your power and your glory. 3 Better your faithful love than life itself; my lips will praise you. 4 Thus I will bless you all my life, in your name lift up my hands. 5 All my longings fulfilled as with fat and rich foods, a song of joy on my lips and praise in my mouth. 6 On my bed when I think of you, I muse on you in the watches of the night, 8 my heart clings to you, your right hand supports me. 9 May those who are hounding me to death go down to the depths of the earth, GOSPEL, John 20:1-2, 11-18 1 It was very early on the first day of the week and still dark, when Mary of Magdala came to the tomb. She saw that the stone had been moved away from the tomb 2 and came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved. They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, she said, and we dont know where they have put him. 11 But Mary was standing outside near the tomb, weeping. Then, as she wept, she stooped to look inside, 12 and saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head, the other at the feet. 13 They said, Woman, why are you weeping? They have taken my Lord away, she replied, and I dont know where they have put him. 14 As she said this she turned round and saw Jesus standing there, though she did not realise that it was Jesus. 15 Jesus said to her, Woman, why are you weeping? Who are you looking for? Supposing him to be the gardener, she said, Sir, if you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and remove him. 16 Jesus said, Mary! She turned round then and said to him in Hebrew, Rabbuni! -- which means Master. 17 Jesus said to her, Do not cling to me, because I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to the brothers, and tell them: I am ascending to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God. 18 So Mary of Magdala told the disciples, I have seen the Lord, and that he had said these things to her. REFLECTIONS: Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam (To the Greater Glory of God) OPENING PRAYER: Lord, be merciful to your people. Fill us with your gifts and make us always eager to serve you in faith, hope and love. You live and reign with the Father and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen. ON READING 1: Song of Solomon 3:1-4 (Third canto: Nocturne) (USA usage: The USCCB uses Micah 7:14-15, 18-20 from the Proper of Seasons for this Memorial; the Proper of Saints Readings are used elsewhere. The Proper of Saints Gospel is used universally.) This canto deals with a second stage of love. It is night-time, in the city; the lover is absent, and the beloved searches for him until she finds him. The speaker is the beloved. United in love with the one she loves (v. 5), she looks back, recalling her first fruitless search (v. 1), and what happened then and her second failed attempt to find him (v. 2); then, at her third attempt -- success (vv. 3-4). The canto in this way describes a trial she has undergone; she overcomes, thanks to her perseverance. If you want to stay close to Christ, seek out suffering and do not fear it. For sometimes Christ is sooner found in the midst of bodily torments and in the hands of the torturers. Scarcely had I passed them, says the Song (v. 4). After a very short time, then, you too will he freed from the hands of those who persecute you, and no longer will you he subject to the powers of this world. Christ will come out to meet you, and he will not allow temptations to threaten you for very long. The one who seeks Christ in this way and finds him can say: I held him, and would not let him go until I brought him into my mothers house, the home of the one who bore me in her womb. What are your mother and your home if not the most intimate and hidden parts of your soul? Keep your house well guarded; keep the most secluded rooms well cleaned, so that the Holy Spirit may come to live in an immaculate home. The ones who look for Christ in this way, who ask for him in this way, will never he abandoned by him; he will come to visit them often because he is with us until the end of the world (St. Ambrose, De virginitate, 12, 68, 74-75; 13, 77-78 ). ON THE GOSPEL: John 20:1-2; 11-18 (The Empty Tomb, The Appearance To Mary Magdalene) The Gospel today presents the apparition of Jesus to Mary Magdalene, whose feast we celebrate today. The death of Jesus, her great friend, makes her lose the sense of life. But she does not cease to look for him. She goes to the tomb to encounter anew the one whom death had stolen. There are moments in life in which everything crumbles down. It seems that everything has come to an end. Death, disasters, pain, disillusionments, betrayals! There are so many things that can make one lose the earth under our feet and produce in us a profound crisis. But something diverse can also take place. Unexpectedly, the encounter with a friend can give us back the sense of life and make us discover that love is stronger than death and than defeat. In the way in which the apparition of Jesus to Mary Magdalene is described we distinguish the stages followed, from the painful seeking for the dead friend to the encounter of the risen Lord. These are also the stages that we all follow, along our life, seeking God and in living out the Gospel. It is the process of death and of resurrection which is prolonged day after day. John 20,1: Mary Magdalene goes to the tomb. There was a profound love between Jesus and Mary Magdalene. She was one of the few persons who had the courage to remain with Jesus until the hour of his death on the Cross. After the obligatory rest of the Sabbath, she returned to the tomb, to be in the place where she had met the Beloved for the last time. But, to her great surprise, the tomb was empty! All four Gospels report the first testimonies of the holy women and the disciples regarding Christs glorious resurrection, beginning with the fact of the empty tomb (cf. Matthew 28:1-15; Mark 16:1ff; Luke 24:1-12) and then telling of the various appearances of the risen Jesus. Mary Magdalene was one of the women who provided for our Lord during His journeys (Luke 8 : 1-3); along with the Virgin Mary she bravely stayed with Him right up to His final moments (John 19:25), and she saw where His body was laid (Luke 23:55). Now, after the obligatory Sabbath rest, she goes to visit the tomb. The Gospel points out that she went early, when it was still dark: her love and veneration led her to go without delay, to be with our Lords body. John 20,11-13: Marys affection and sensitivity lead her to be concerned about what has become of the dead body of Jesus. This woman out of whom seven demons were cast (cf. Luke 8 : 2) stayed faithful during His passion and even now her love is still ardent: our Lord had freed her from the Evil One and she responded to that grace humbly and generously. After consoling Mary Magdalene, Jesus gives her a message for the Apostles, whom He tenderly calls His brethren. This message implies that He and they have the same Father, though each in an essentially different way: I am ascending to My Father--My own Father by nature--and to your Father--for He is your Father through the adoption I have won for you and by My death. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, shows His great mercy and understanding by gathering together all His disciples who had abandoned Him during His passion and were now in hiding for fear of the Jews (John 20:19). Mary Magdalenes perseverance teaches us that anyone who sincerely keeps searching for Jesus Christ will eventually find Him. Jesus gesture in calling His disciples His brethren despite their having run away should fill us with love in the midst of our own infidelities. Mary Magdalene weeps, but seeks. As she wept, she stooped to look inside, and saw two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had been, one at the head, the other at the feet. The angels asked: “Why are you weeping?” Response: “They have taken my Lord away, and I do not know where they have put him!” Mary Magdalene looks for the Jesus she had known, the same one with whom she had lived during three years. John 20,14-15: Mary Magdalene speaks with Jesus without recognizing him; the Disciples of Emmaus saw Jesus, but they did not recognize him (Lk 24,15-16). The same thing happens to Mary Magdalene. She sees Jesus, but does not recognize him. She thinks that it is the gardener. Jesus also asks, like the angels had done: “Why are you weeping?” And he adds “Who are you looking for?” Response: “If you have taken him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will go and remove him!” She is still looking for the Jesus of the past, the same one of three days before. The image of the past prevents her from recognizing the living Jesus, who is standing in front of her. From Jesus dialogue with Mary Magdalene, we can see the frame of mind all His disciples must have been in: they were not expecting the resurrection. John 20,16: Mary Magdalene recognizes Jesus. Jesus pronounces the name “Mary!” (Miriam). This is the sign of recognition: the same voice, the same way of pronouncing the name. She answers “Master!” (Rabbuni). Jesus turns. The first impression is that death has been only a painful accident on the way, but that now everything has turned back as it was in the beginning. Mary embraces Jesus intensely. He was the same Jesus who had died on the cross, the same one whom she had known and loved. Here takes place what Jesus had said in the Parable of the Good Shepherd: “He calls his by name and they know his voice”. “I know my sheep and my sheep know me!” (Jn 10,2.4.14). John 20,17: Mary Magdalene receives the mission to announce the resurrection to the Apostles. In fact, it is the same Jesus, but the way of being with her is not the same. Jesus tells her: “Do not cling to me because I have not yet ascended to the Father!” Jesus is going to be together with the Father. Mary Magdalene should not cling to him, but she has to assume her mission: “But go and find my brothers and tell them: I am ascending to my Father and your Father”. He calls the disciples “my brothers”. Ascending to the Father Jesus opens the way for us so that we can be close to God. “I want them to be with me where I am” (Jn 17,24; 14,3). Do not hold Me: the use of the negative imperative in the Greek, reflected in the New Vulgate (noli me tenere) indicates that our Lord is telling Mary to release her hold of Him, to let Him go, since she will have another chance to see Him before His ascension into Heaven. John 20,18: The dignity and the mission of Magdalene and of the women. Mary Magdalene is called the disciple of Jesus (Lk 8,1-2); witness of his crucifixion (Mk 15,40-41; Mt 27,55-56; Jn 19, 25), of his burial (Mk 15, 47; Lk 23, 55; Mt 27, 61), and of his resurrection (Mk 16,1-8; Mt 28,1-10; Jn 20,1.11-18). And now she receives the order, she is ordered to go to the Twelve and to announce to them that Jesus is alive. Without this Good News of the Resurrection, the seven lamps of the Sacraments would extinguish (Mt 28,10); Jn 20,17-18). FINAL PRAYERS: God, you are my God, I pine for you; My heart thirsts for you, My body longs for you, As a land parched, dreary and waterless. (Ps 63,1) Lord, we pray for the grace to experience the “newness” of life in Christ. When we empty ourselves of all that puts us at a distance from you – carrying our burden by ourselves, staring at the loss in our life and looking past so many blessings, depleting our energy by putting ourselves last or engaging in the black hole of negative conversation – we simply cannot celebrate the “newness” of life in Christ. With profound gratitude, Lord, we place our life totally into your hands, and we know that your divine spark will deepen the significance of our day. Amen. Ignorance of Scripture is ignorance of Christ. -- St. Jerome The Father uttered one Word; that Word is His Son, and He utters Him forever in everlasting silence; and in silence the soul has to hear it. -- St. John of the Cross
Posted on: Mon, 21 Jul 2014 22:33:13 +0000
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